conash

Hi! This is random, because I just saw your post on the "Members" page... it's just that I often wonder why it is that people who believe in reason come to the conclusion to become atheists. Seems to me that the more reasonable and logical position would be that of an agnostic - basically "I don't know, therefore I can't for now believe in either the existence of a god or gods, or in his/her/their nonexistence." I also would submit that while "god" surely is not a white-bearded guy sitting on a cloud somewhere, and much, maybe all, of religious lore and writing is man-made, great minds through the ages have grappled with questions of human existence (or existence of anything, for that matter) and we can't know for certain what forces (entities?) have "created" or set into motion the existence of, say, the universe. That said, I'm totally with you in finding it doesn't make sense to force a belief set on anybody.

I am glad you brought that up. There is really only three answers to the question of weather god exists or not and they are yes, no, or maybe. These can basically be defined as theist, atheist, or agnostic. I see your point about coming to the conclusion of "no", verses just saying "I don't know" as being almost anti-logical, since nobody really knows. However In my experience, which granted is limited due to my age, I find that most people I speak with about these views are uneducated as to the true meaning, or possible meanings of these three terms that I had mentioned before. It is for that reason that I define myself as atheist because it is an easier term for others to understand. In reality it is the person who is making the claim that should be burdened with providing proof, atheism, for me, makes the most sense. Unfortunately most people think that the definition of agnostic is that you believe in a higher power but not in any type of organized religion, or at least in the area where I am from that is the general definition. :/ Based off your response and what I know about Germany you are an intelligent person who actually knows what the terms mean verses a lot of people who have never studied it. And for the sake of argument I think we might agree that the world should come to grips with being agnostic and stop staking claims and causing wars over things that we just don't know.I hope this post satisfies your curiosities as to why I say atheist over agnostic.